The present invention relates to a safety needle assembly and more particularly to a needle assembly which can be used during angiographic procedures.
Angiographic procedures are initiated by a needle puncture into an artery, typically the femoral artery, in the groin area. The needle puncture technique is called the Seldinger Technique and it can be performed using either a one or two piece needle. In the procedure, the sharpened part of the needle is inserted through the skin into the artery lumen. Blood is observed exiting the needle to insure that the needle has been properly placed. The technique may also involve test injection of contrast medium to insure the proper placement of the needle.
Physicians, or other health professionals working with a patient during angiographic procedures, often come in contact with the arterial blood that spurts from the needle during the initial needle puncture. This contact with blood increases the likelihood of contracting an infectious disease. With the advent of AIDS and the increase in hepatitis it becomes of greater importance to prevent inadvertent contact with blood.
There are a number of devices known in the prior art which connect to catheters to reduce blood loss during an angiographic procedure. These devices are called hemostasis devices. These hemostasis devices do not attach to needles and are not intended to protect a physician from blood contact during the initial needle stick
A safe stick adaptor is known in the prior art to protect a physician from blood contact during the initial needle puncture. This adaptor is marketed by Cook Incorporated of Bloomington, Ind. The Cook adaptor is bulky and relies upon manually fixing a Tuohy-Borst valve around a wire guide inserter. The Cook adaptor is locked onto an access needle with a wire guide prepositioned through the Tuohy-Borst valve prior to puncture. The pulsatile artery blood which flashes back during the initial needle puncture is contained in a side-arm plastic sheath. After this is done the Tuohy-Borst valve is loosened so that a guide wire can be advanced. Use of this device is cumbersome, time consuming and excessive loosening of the Tuohy-Borst valve may cause blood to spurt from the device.
It is accordingly an objective of the present invention to provide a safety needle assembly which is easy to use and which protects the physician, or other health professional, from contact with blood during the initial needle puncture of an angiographic procedure.